Quote:
Originally Posted by LightingGuy
I'm getting back into fitness after a year of basically doing nothing for exercise. Last year I was in really good shape (6 days a week, 50% cardio), and then fell off the wagon after new years. Now I'm getting back into it after noticing the negative physical and mental effects of longterm sedentary habits. Day 1 was swimming - felt exhausted afterwards, but glad to get back into it.
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3 month update.
Aside from a brief break when I got COVID last month, I haven't skipped a single weekday otherwise.
The difference in how I feel has been pretty stark. Most notably has been my mental well-being.
I work for myself and have OCD, so stress/anxiety is something I have to constantly monitor and manage.
I didn't realize this at the time, but prior to exercising I spent a lot of time in my head with own thoughts (I also work from home usually, which adds fuel to the fire).
Now, I can honestly say that I'm calmer and more relaxed than I've felt ... ever? And the positive impact it has had on my life has been tremendous. And it gets me out of the house first thing in the morning, and talking to some real people. Much more effective than SSRIs, which I stopped taking 10 years ago.
My main goal now is to not let the habit slide, because I don't want to return to where I was before. Every time I quit in the past resulted from me being too competitive with myself - I constantly kept trying to up the game, but then it becomes more and more to manage, reaching the point of unsustainability. This goes great in the beginning, I see a lot of results really quickly, until at some point something breaks and the habit is ruined as a result:
- I get injured
- I get sick
- Vacations/holidays
- Work gets extremely busy
This time around I've completely changed my approach. All that matters is that I wake at 5am every single weekday, and show up at the gym, which is only a 5 minute walk from my house. When I get there I know which muscle groups I want to focus on that day, and I do whatever my body can manage that day. Then I go home eat whatever amount of food my body can take that day. Later I'll make myself a protein shake and have some healthier snacks throughout the day.
I have found this approach is still getting me results, albeit slower than in the past, BUT it's much more manageable and something I can actually sustain indefinitely, since I'm not pushing myself to exhaustion everyday.
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